Bird Counts

Leadbetter CBC 2012

By Suzy Whittey

This was the Christmas bird count that almost did not happen. When I discovered in mid-November that no one was organizing the Leadbetter CBC that I had participated in for years, I volunteered for the job. I could not imagine a Christmas without counting birds. I also, could not imagine the job, or I might not have tackled it.

Continue reading to see the results for Cowlitz-Columbia and Wahkiakum County circles.

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is citizen-science at its best. You can help with this effort, whether you have ever gone bird watching or not. You will have the opportunity to meet new people with interests in birds, or spend time with friends from previous years. Again this year WHAS sponsors the following CBC's:

Leadbetter CBC on Saturday Dec 15th: contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Wahkiakum CBC on Friday Dec 28th: contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Cowlitz Coweeman Columbia CBC on Tuesday January 1st: contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This is your chance to help collect the information which will direct decisions in the future, decisions which will affect how much natural beauty, including birds, remains for future generations.

Bring your binoculars if you have some, boots, warm clothes and a lunch, and join us for a day outside, looking closely at some of Nature's most interesting creatures, sharing the day with people who have similar interests.

On January 1, 2012 the 30th 3CBC was held as part of Audubon's 112th Christmas Bird Count. Twenty-Two field observers and 3 feeder watchers joined and spent the sunny day finding 17,771 birds and a record 105 species. The temperature ranged from 36° to 48°. This was the nicest day we have had in many years.

Many thanks to everyone that participated in the 2011 Leadbetter Point Christmas Bird Count on December 17. For those of you not familiar with Leadbetter Point, it is a 15-mile radius circle generally in the area around Willapa Bay. This year, we had a total of 34 participants working in five sectors and two participants monitoring feeders.

We had good weather with temperatures ranging from freezing to about 50-degrees. Winds were not a factor. This sounds like perfect birding weather, right? It was!

In total, we identified 110 species with about half being water fowl and shore birds and the other half upland species. The least found group was owls with only 2 snowy owls being spotted. The most common species was Dunlin with 29,950 spotted. Second was Northern Pintail duck at 16,141. No rare species were seen but species unusual to the Willapa Bay area in December included Western Scrub Jay (5), Brown Pelican (1) and Orange-Crowned Warbler (30).

Most participants were from the Longview-Kelso-Castle Rock area. A few from Long Beach-Ilwaco. Others came from Seattle, Portland and Alaska to be day-long participants. We had four new people turn out and we hope they make the C an annual event.

The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is citizen-science at its best. You can help with this effort, whether you have ever gone bird watching or not. You will have the opportunity to meet new people with interests in birds, or spend time with friends from previous years. Observant eyes are needed for that day: the more the better. You can point out where you see birds and experts in your group can do the identifying; if you do know some of the birds in your area, so much the better. This is your chance to help collect the information which will direct decisions in the future, decisions which will affect how much natural beauty, including birds, remains for future generations.

Bring your binoculars if you have some, boots, warm clothes and a lunch, and join us for a day outside, looking closely at some of Nature's most interesting creatures, sharing the day with people who have similar interests.